Managing Big City Transit Systems: Case Studies of Jay Walder at the MTA

The project proposes the development of three new teaching cases that will illustrate some key challenges facing leaders and backers of the nation's major systems. The cases, which will be used in graduate-level courses and executive education programs on both transportation policy and the strategic management of public organizations, will be developed and distributed by the Kennedy School of Government's Case Program, which is the largest source of public policy cases in the world. The cases would focus on the experiences of Jay Walder, who became the Chairman and CEO of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in fall 2009. Almost immediately, he had to develop a plan to close an unexpected $800 million budget deficit for calendar year 2010. The deficit, moreover, made it clear that the MTA needed to develop a sustainable longer-term funding and management plan. However, such a plan had the potential to generate serious conflicts with powerful individuals and institutions, including the unions representing most the MTA's workers and key political and civic leaders from areas dependent on MTA service. As such, the cases clearly fit the theme of "strategic management of disruptive change" that is the focus of the New England University Transportation Center's (NEUTC) research and educational project in year 23.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $150000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT07-G-0001

  HVDE23-2

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avneue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Principal Investigators:

  Luberoff, David

  Gomez-Ibanez, Jose

• Start Date: 20100910
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20120831
• Source Data: RiP Project 29310

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Education and training; Transit operating agencies; Transportation policy; Urban transit
• Identifier Terms: New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Policy; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01480748
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: New England University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: DTRT07-G-0001, HVDE23-2
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: May 7 2013 1:01AM